it was an interesting exchange. >> it was clear right from the start that mitt mitt romney sae debate as a chance to shake up the race and came out aggressive and prepared and put the president on the defensive for much of the 90 minutes. >> president obama and mitt romney went head to head. the candidates boiled down their economic arguments. >> governor romney has a perspective that says if we cut taxes skewed towards the wealthy and roll back regulations that we will be better off. i have got a different view. >> the president has a view very similar to the view he d when ran four years guy. if you will, trickle down government would work. that is not the right answer for america. >> romney's comments about the 47% have take and toll on his campaign even before the leaked video polls showed that americans thought he favored the wealthy over the middle class. tonight he clearly wanted to try and change that perception. >> the people having a hard time right now are middle income americans. under the president's policies, middle income americans have been buried. they are beg crusd.